Mogadishu, Somalia — Somalia’s intelligence agency says it has dismantled an 11-man Al-Shabaab cell operating between Mogadishu and the Shabelle valley. NISA announced the arrests 48 hours after a separate raid killed a senior bomb-maker in the south.
The National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) reports that its officers detained 11 suspects during an intelligence-led sweep that spanned crowded districts of the capital to villages in Lower and Middle Shabelle.
Officials describe the group as a “dangerous network” accused of plotting bomb attacks and gathering information for the Al-Qaeda-linked insurgents.
The claims have not been independently verified, and the agency has not released the men’s names or detailed charges.
Twin operations
According to a NISA statement, investigators spent weeks watching safe houses, tracking movements, and mapping meeting points. “The operation was carefully coordinated based on verified intelligence,” the agency said.
Officers then arrested the suspects one by one. NISA says the men belonged to a clandestine “Khawaarij” cell – the government’s preferred term for Al-Shabaab – and alleges they were preparing “terror plots and espionage” while living among civilians in Mogadishu and in communities in the two Shabelle regions.
Officials add that some suspects were caught as they coordinated or facilitated activities linked to planned attacks. “Our units moved in at the moment they attempted to activate their plans,” the statement noted.
The agency says it compiled “critical data” on the group’s contacts and intentions and presents the arrests as a pre-emptive move to disrupt attacks before execution.
NISA did not specify what weapons, explosives, or communications equipment, if any, officers recovered during the raids.
According to officials, the men mapped checkpoints and sensitive sites, tracked the movements of security personnel, and helped identify crowded areas in the capital that could be targeted.
One security officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the cell had been “probing the city’s defences and looking for soft spots.”
Bomb-maker raid
The arrests followed a night-time raid by NISA’s elite Gaashaan unit in the Cumar Beere area of Lower Shabelle that targeted a veteran bomb-maker blamed for years of roadside blasts.
The agency identified the man as Hassan Siidoow Hussein, a senior Al-Shabaab operative it described as the “mastermind behind IED attacks in Lower Shabelle.”
NISA says Gaashaan forces also killed three armed escorts during the operation. “The team neutralised the target and his close protection detail without civilian casualties,” the agency stated.
Security officials say roadside bombs linked to Hussein have repeatedly struck buses and commercial traffic, disrupting daily life and trade in Lower Shabelle.
They explain that Gaashaan teams tracked his movements for an extended period before intercepting his vehicle in Cumar Beere. “Taking him off the battlefield reduces the risk on these key routes,” one official said.
By unveiling the 11 arrests so soon after the Cumar Beere raid, Somali authorities present a linked effort: removing a key bomb-maker in the countryside while trying to dismantle alleged facilitators, lookouts, and scouts closer to Mogadishu.
City under strain
Mogadishu has lived with Al-Shabaab’s threat for nearly two decades. The group no longer controls whole districts of the city. However, it still reaches into the capital with suicide bombings, hotel sieges, and targeted assassinations, while drawing revenue from its economy through taxes and protection money.
A commerce report by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime estimates that Al-Shabaab generates more than $100 million a year from forced “zakat” and levies, with a significant share tied to Mogadishu’s businesses and real estate.
The European Union Agency for Asylum’s latest security report describes Al-Shabaab as the leading actor in a layered conflict that continues to endanger civilians nationwide. It notes that the group can still strike both major towns and rural roads despite sustained military pressure.